Rolf Harris says alleged victim 'asked him for £25k'

Rolf Harris told police that one of his alleged victims called him to ask for £25,000 to stop her from speaking to the media.

In August last year the entertainer made the following statement:

In around 1994, I started hosting a programme called Animal Hospital on the BBC. It was an immediate hit.

After it went on air, I received a telephone call from (the alleged victim) in which she said that she wanted me to give her £25,000 in order that she could set up an animal sanctuary with her boyfriend.

I told her that I could not and would not pay. She told me that her brother would 'go to the papers', by which I assumed she meant that he would reveal details of our affair to the media.

I refused to make any payment to her.

– Statement Rolf Harris made to police in August 2013

The court heard that the woman had told other people about the alleged abuse.

Prosecutor Sascha Wass QC said it demonstrated that the woman's allegations were "not a recent invention to jump on any bandwagon arising out of the Jimmy Savile inquiry."